The Birth of Twins
by Unlike-me
Summary: This is my take on what happened when the twins were born... A/G of course ;


**The Birth of Twins**

This is my take on the birth of the twins. I'm not really sure what I think about this piece myself, so reviews will be greatly appreciated.

_Disclaimer: They're all Tammy's_

Alanna fell back onto the pillows, breathing hard. Giving birth to twins was exhausting! She could feel cool water on her forehead and opened her eyes to find Eleni brushing a wet towel over her face and through her sweat-soaked hair. She realized that her thighs were wet too, and it didn't feel like sweat. Slowly, she raised herself up from the pillows, using her arms as support as she struggled to get in a position where she could see past her big stomach. She grimaced. The sheets - and her thighs, the subject matter - were soaked in blood. Too much blood, quite frankly.

She looked up at Eleni and the midwife, who exchanged worried glances. Of course they'd noticed it as well. Alanna wondered just how long it had been like that. They probably hadn't told her because they didn't want to scare her. Upsetting the woman giving birth was never a good idea. She felt another contraction coming on, but she wasn't thinking about pushing anymore. She turned her head so that she could look directly into Eleni's eyes. The older woman had not yet moved back down to the foot of the bed, but was still standing next to Alanna at her right side.

"Could you please get George in here? I need to tell him something." As Eleni opened her mouth, probably to protest, Alanna added another "please" while she widened her eyes.

Eleni nodded. She did not think it was a good idea to have husbands in the birth room, particularly not husbands who worried like George did. Unfortunately, the girl in front of her had those big violet eyes and when she widened them, she looked as innocent and vulnerable as an eight-year old child. It was impossible to tell her no. She turned and went for the door. When she opened it, four men simultaneously turned their heads, focusing in on her. There'd been no child crying yet and so the appearance of her did not incur joyful smiles. Her eyes settled on George and she hesitated a moment before she motioned for him to get inside.

Eleni nearly walked in to her son as he had jerked to a stop, gasping. She walked around him to see what had caused him to stop so abruptly. She immediately understood as she saw the sight that had met him, when he walked in. Alanna had fallen back down onto the bulk of pillows, closing her eyes. The dark red colour of the blood demanded the eyes' attention, in the great contrast to the white sheets and Alanna's cream coloured nightgown. Now Eleni noticed that the girl's skin had gone quite pale, competing with the almost white colour of her gown. From this distance you couldn't tell if she was breathing and so it looked just as if the girl had died. Of course Eleni knew this wasn't the case, however, her son did not. Before she could say anything though, Alanna opened her eyes and upon seeing George, gave a weak smile. He let out a deep breath and walked to her side, sitting down on the bed, and taking her right hand in his. He tried to smile, but even Alanna's smile had been more convincing than his.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi"

When she didn't say anything, he prompted her "What's up, lass?", keeping his tone light.

"I need to ask you something." She glanced up at Eleni, the midwife, and the young girl helping out, who all had walked to the far side of the room, giving them privacy. It wasn't enough. She reached out her right hand, drawing his hand with it, up to the collar of his tunic, which she grabbed with the edge of her fingertips, pulling him down to her. Now his face was only inches from hers and they could talk undisturbed, unheard.

"George if I'm... If I... If something were to happen to me, you'd still care for the children. Right?"

"Nothing's going to happen to you Alanna. You'll be fine." Usually, he always stayed calm, trying to comfort her, but today it sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as her. It was not that kind of comfort she was after now anyway, it was something else she needed to hear from him.

"No, listen to me! If I... die... then you'll still love them, will you not?" Her voice was pleading and her eyes had that shine that comes just before tears. He wanted most of all to tell her that she wasn't going to die, that she'd better not die, that he wouldn't let her die. But that wasn't what she cared about right now. She was thinking of the past, of a pair of twins who had never been loved because of the death of their mother. So he caved and said what she needed to hear instead.

"Of course. Of course I will. I couldn't not love them."

Alanna's shoulders fell down, relaxed. Though she still held on to his eyes.

"Promise?"

"Promise" This earned him a real smile from her. She fought to sit back up and he helped, putting a supporting hand on her back.

"Well, I better get back to pushing." She said this out loud, causing the women to come back to fuss around her again. George stayed, holding her hand, and no one suggested that he should leave. Not long after both children were born and Alanna, after having confirmed that they were both healthy, not missing any toes or the like, once again slumped back on the bed and closed her eyes. George shifted nervously and put a hand on her shoulder about to shake her.

"I'm just closing my eyes, George. You would too, if you were me right now." Her voice held that sarcastic edge it so often did, and George let it go, thinking she acted normally.

But she didn't wake up. Not when little Thom pulled at her sleeve, not when the twins kept crying higher and higher to out best the other, and not when George finally did shake her. Eleni said that she'd wake up. Most likely. She was still breathing, she pointed out. They had washed Alanna and changed the sheets, however, there was nothing they could do to bring back colour in her cheeks and so the illusion of 'Alanna just resting' wasn't complete. George sat at her bedside the rest of the evening and the entire night. It wasn't till noon the next day that she opened her eyes, looking into his.

"You haven't slept," she accused.

He rewarded her with a brilliant smile. The Trickster still had mercy on him after all. Life was going to continue. "How do you feel?"

"Empty," she said, bringing her hand down to her stomach.

"Are you hungry? Shall I get you some food?"

Alanna grimaced. She was feeling a bit nauseous. She had never been good with breakfast anyway. "Not that kind of empty." He knew that, she could tell.

"Where are my children?"

George answered the unsaid question first; "They're both fine." Then he added; "They are sleeping in the room next to us."

She'd see them when they woke up, she decided. She'd better spend as much time with them as possible. She didn't think George would let her go into birth ever again. Not after this experience. That was all right with her, she realized. She wasn't up for another pregnancy anyway. All in all, eighteen months was quite an achievement for her.


End file.
